Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill Consultation Document Environmental Report February 2012

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Purpose of the Environmental Report

1.1 Marine Scotland is considering the need for new legislation on aquaculture, freshwater and sea fisheries, and is therefore currently consulting on key issues and priority areas for a possible Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill. The Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill consultation document has now been published, and is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/12/06081229/0. Key facts about the Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill Consultation Document are provided in Table 1.

1.2 Review of the Bill consultation document, and the provisions proposed for inclusion in the Bill, has led to the conclusion that there is the potential to give rise to significant environmental effects. These provisions are deemed to fall under Section 5(4) of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005, and a combined screening and scoping report was submitted to the SEA Gateway in December 2011, inviting formal views from the Consultation Authorities. The outcome of the screening was the determination by Marine Scotland that the provisions proposed for inclusion in the Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill would be likely to have significant environmental effects.

1.3 A strategic environmental assessment ( SEA) has therefore been undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005. The purpose of the SEA is to integrate environmental factors into the preparation of the Bill, by identifying potential environmental effects and measures for their mitigation, and ensuring that this information is made available when decisions are made. This Environmental Report sets out the results of the assessment and invites views from the Consultation Authorities ( SNH, SEPA and Historic Scotland) and the general public.

Structure of the Environmental Report

1.4 The remainder of this environmental report is structured as follows:

• Section 2 describes the Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill Consultation Document and its policy context.
• Section 3 describes the approach to the SEA.
• Section 4 provides information on interactions between aquaculture and the marine environment, focusing on wild salmonids.
• Sections 5-13 present the results of the assessment. Each section covers a different provision proposed for inclusion in the Bill, describing the baseline situation, assessing the potential environmental effects, and identifying mitigation measures where appropriate.
• Section 14 summarises the results of the assessment.
• Section 15 outlines the next steps of the SEA and Bill processes.
• Detailed information is provided in the appendices.

Table 1: Key Facts about the Bill Consultation Document